Racism in the cay
Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream that people would be judged not by the colour of their skin, but on the content of their character. Theodore Taylor explores a similar dream in The Cay. He begins with a main character – an 11-year-old white boy named Phillip – who has bigoted views on race. Once Phillip goes blind, he is forced to depend upon a black West Indian man named Timothy to navigate the world around him. Needless to say, his worldview changes dramatically. Taylor's novel explores race relations by dramatizing an unlikely friendship that rises above racial boundaries.
Discussion questions about Race
1. Where does Phillip pick up his narrow-minded ideas about race?
2. What country is Timothy from? Who are his parents? How old is he?
3. Timothy believes that underneath our skin we are all the same. Does Phillip believe this? Do you?
4. Why does Phillip choose to associate mainly with the black West Indian people at the end of the novel?
Discussion Topic.
Timothy's literal blindness allows him to become figuratively colour-blind. Do you agree?
Racism Quotes.
In books, sometimes when you mention a quote you don’t use the page number (because books get printed and re-printed at different times, what is on page 3 in your book may be on page 5 in another copy of the same book). So when a quote gets mentioned in a story book is may in the following style (chapter,paragraph).
Read the quotes below and answer the questions.
I have linked any difficult words to their dictionary.com page
Quote 1
He crawled over toward me. His face couldn't have been blacker, or his teeth whiter. They made an alabaster trench in his mouth, and his pink-purple lips peeled back over them like the meat of a conch shell. He had a big welt, like a scar, on his left cheek. I knew he was West Indian. I had seen many of them in Willemstad, but he was the biggest one I'd ever seen. (Chapter 3. Paragraph 17)
Before he goes blind, Phillip gives us a physical description of Timothy, emphasising how big and scary he is. What do you notice about the words Phillip chooses to describe Timothy? For example, why does he compare Timothy's teeth to an "alabaster trench" and his lips to a "conch shell"? What effect do these phrases have
Quote 2
Although I hadn't thought so before, I was now beginning to believe that my mother was right. She didn't like them. She didn't like it when Henrik and I would go down to St. Anna Bay and play near the schooners. But it was always fun. The black people would laugh at us and toss us bananas or papayas. (3.59)
Phillip reveals that he has picked up negative ideas about black West Indians from his mother. Why doesn't she want her son to associate with the black people in Willemstad
Quote 3
Once, our bodies touched. We both drew back, but I drew back faster. In Virginia, I knew they'd always lived in their sections of town, and us in ours. A few times, I'd gone down through the shacks of colored town with my father. They sold spicy crabs in one shack, I remember. (4.3)
Phillip describes his segregated hometown back in Virginia, where white and black people lived separately. Is it easier to maintain racist views if you don't live alongside other races? Why or why not?
Quote 4
I had now been with him every moment of the day and night for two months, but I had not seen him. I remember that ugly welted face. But now, in my memory, it did not seem ugly at all. It seemed only kind and strong.
I asked, "Timothy, are you still black?"
His laughter filled the hut. (13.52-54)
Phillip's blindness allows him to cast aside his preconceived notions and get to know Timothy in a different way. Why doesn't Phillip think of Timothy as black or white?
Quote 5
I saw Henrik van Boven occasionally, but it wasn't the same as when we'd played the Dutch or the British. He seemed very young. So I spent a lot of time along St. Anna Bay, and at the Ruyterkade market talking to the black people. I liked the sound of their voices. Some of them had known old Timothy from Charlotte Amalie. I felt close to them. (19.40)
Phillip realises it's not race that binds you to someone – it's shared experiences and values. Why does he no longer connect with Henrik van Boven? What does he have in common with the West Indian people in St. Anna Bay?
.
Discussion questions about Race
1. Where does Phillip pick up his narrow-minded ideas about race?
2. What country is Timothy from? Who are his parents? How old is he?
3. Timothy believes that underneath our skin we are all the same. Does Phillip believe this? Do you?
4. Why does Phillip choose to associate mainly with the black West Indian people at the end of the novel?
Discussion Topic.
Timothy's literal blindness allows him to become figuratively colour-blind. Do you agree?
Racism Quotes.
In books, sometimes when you mention a quote you don’t use the page number (because books get printed and re-printed at different times, what is on page 3 in your book may be on page 5 in another copy of the same book). So when a quote gets mentioned in a story book is may in the following style (chapter,paragraph).
Read the quotes below and answer the questions.
I have linked any difficult words to their dictionary.com page
Quote 1
He crawled over toward me. His face couldn't have been blacker, or his teeth whiter. They made an alabaster trench in his mouth, and his pink-purple lips peeled back over them like the meat of a conch shell. He had a big welt, like a scar, on his left cheek. I knew he was West Indian. I had seen many of them in Willemstad, but he was the biggest one I'd ever seen. (Chapter 3. Paragraph 17)
Before he goes blind, Phillip gives us a physical description of Timothy, emphasising how big and scary he is. What do you notice about the words Phillip chooses to describe Timothy? For example, why does he compare Timothy's teeth to an "alabaster trench" and his lips to a "conch shell"? What effect do these phrases have
Quote 2
Although I hadn't thought so before, I was now beginning to believe that my mother was right. She didn't like them. She didn't like it when Henrik and I would go down to St. Anna Bay and play near the schooners. But it was always fun. The black people would laugh at us and toss us bananas or papayas. (3.59)
Phillip reveals that he has picked up negative ideas about black West Indians from his mother. Why doesn't she want her son to associate with the black people in Willemstad
Quote 3
Once, our bodies touched. We both drew back, but I drew back faster. In Virginia, I knew they'd always lived in their sections of town, and us in ours. A few times, I'd gone down through the shacks of colored town with my father. They sold spicy crabs in one shack, I remember. (4.3)
Phillip describes his segregated hometown back in Virginia, where white and black people lived separately. Is it easier to maintain racist views if you don't live alongside other races? Why or why not?
Quote 4
I had now been with him every moment of the day and night for two months, but I had not seen him. I remember that ugly welted face. But now, in my memory, it did not seem ugly at all. It seemed only kind and strong.
I asked, "Timothy, are you still black?"
His laughter filled the hut. (13.52-54)
Phillip's blindness allows him to cast aside his preconceived notions and get to know Timothy in a different way. Why doesn't Phillip think of Timothy as black or white?
Quote 5
I saw Henrik van Boven occasionally, but it wasn't the same as when we'd played the Dutch or the British. He seemed very young. So I spent a lot of time along St. Anna Bay, and at the Ruyterkade market talking to the black people. I liked the sound of their voices. Some of them had known old Timothy from Charlotte Amalie. I felt close to them. (19.40)
Phillip realises it's not race that binds you to someone – it's shared experiences and values. Why does he no longer connect with Henrik van Boven? What does he have in common with the West Indian people in St. Anna Bay?
.